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In Memory

In memory of our friend and colleague Amy Branch

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Female fans normally know more facts about what’s going on than men do anyway. I’d say they’re a more intelligent fan on top of that. They normally know more about what we’ve done than we know about what we’ve done. --- Tony Stewart

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There are female fans who take apart engines and will take you apart if you have a problem with that; who are drawn to the danger and mystery of the sport; who watch races on TV to witness pure passion and unscripted emotion; who love the camaraderie of these family-friendly festivals; who feel the nervous anxiety of the lip-biting wives atop the pit boxes. --- Andrew Giangola “The Weekend Starts on Wednesday”

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

In the NASCAR world, silly season often refers to the game of musical chairs drivers play as they move from one team to another as they look ahead to the upcoming season. This season there seems to be a second version of silly season playing out as teams prepare for 2011—sponsor silly season.

Many times when teams take on a new sponsor, it’s because said sponsor is new to the sport, while another sponsor opts to leave the sport because a company is facing financial hardship and can no longer afford to be in NASCAR or simply chooses to spend its advertising dollars elsewhere.

In recent months, several teams have announced new sponsorship deals, but they’re not bringing new business entities to the sport and sponsors aren’t leaving NASCAR. Instead, sponsors are jumping from one team to another. Granted, sponsors moving from one team to another isn’t a new phenomenon in NASCAR, but it seems to be going on more and more at this point in time.